This invention was conceived while working on highly tensioned membrane structures such as described in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,215,153 entitled, "Architectural Structure;" Ser. No. 3,338,711 entitled, "Portable Structure;" Ser. No. 3,699,987 entitled, "Housing with Cable Suspended Panels;" Ser. No. 3,820,450 entitled, "Pavilion with Series of Arches;" Ser. No. 3,811,454 entitled, "Structural Membrane Attachment to an Arch," and other patents and applications of mine pertaining to such membrane structures in the United States and foreign countries.
This construction was described and illustrated in the Disclosure Document Program, Document No. 037221 entitled, "Beam or Curved Arch Construction and Method of Fabricating It;" Document No. 026665 entitled, "An Interlocking Laminated Beam, Adaptable for Curved Arches," and other prior documents and illustrations.